Thursday, August 4, 2011

Pasta Carbonara has been on "Mike's List" for a while now - it was his favorite meal when we were in Italy for our honeymoon. I've been shying away from making it because I thought, bacon, cream, cheese... do we really need that? Then I thought about how I could make it a little healthier and more Summer appropriate... roasted chicken, fresh basil?

Well, last night I had to admit my short-sightedness for Pasta Carbonara - I was the one raving and helping myself to seconds saying, "I'm so glad you talked me into making this!" I'm not sure if my body welcomed my splurge, but my husband was. Ahh, he sacrifices I make...

Prepare the chicken by placing the breasts on a baking sheet, drizzling with olive oil, salt & pepper. Roast for 15-20 minutes (depending on size and thickness of the chicken) at 425 degrees. Meanwhile...

Heat water to boil for pasta. Add 2 tablespoons of sea salt to the water.

In a large saute pan, brown pancetta on medium high heat until crispy. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and whipping cream. Set aside. Do not begin to make the rest of the sauce until the chicken has finished roasting.

Add pasta to the boiling water. Shred the chicken with a fork. Add minced garlic and chicken to the saute pan with pancetta. Cook on medium for 1 minute heat chicken and saute garlic.

The pasta should be just about ready. Remove it from the boiling water (I recommend tongs!) keeping the cooking water in the pot, and place it directly into the saute pan with the chicken and pancetta. Reduce heat to low.

Pour egg and cream mixture over the hot pasta and stir continuously until the sauce thickens. If you need more liquid, add a small amount of the pasta cooking water. Add parmesan cheese, chopped basil and some black pepper and toss together. Serve immediately.

Everything diced and ready to go...

I have the deli counter slice the pancetta pretty thick to have something nice to bite into.

Cooking the pancetta.

Shred the chicken with a fork. I think that roasting the chicken, instead of poaching it gives it much more flavor.

In goes the pasta... this is a smaller recipe for one. You'll need a very large skillet for 1 pound of pasta... unless you like scrubbing your range.